


Good Directions

by seibelsays



Series: Fluffy Fridays [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Not Actually Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22939726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seibelsays/pseuds/seibelsays
Summary: Darcy's knowledge of Avenger's HQ's labyrinth of hallways has unexpected benefits.Or - the one where Bucky pretends to get lost a lot.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis
Series: Fluffy Fridays [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1026537
Comments: 65
Kudos: 504





	Good Directions

Darcy took a long sip of her coffee, her intentionally loud slurps echoing softly in the large space. She was alone down here, as usual, and she did whatever she had to in order to keep herself entertained while Jane’s data ran through the computer. 

It wasn’t so much that she was _bored_ or that her presence here wasn’t _necessary_...but Darcy had serious doubts about the effective use of her time.

Then again, if the Avengers wanted to pay her an obscene salary to babysit a computer, then babysit a computer she shall. Even if she had to resort to testing the acoustics of the room to keep from going insane.

Faint footsteps echoed down the hall. Darcy stilled, trying to judge where the sound was coming from and if it was headed her way. Her desk was in a little alcove in the bowels of the facility, at the crossroads of a number of different hallways. The entire floor was a labyrinth of epic proportions - partially by design, but primarily due to additions and updates the bureaucratic machine of SHIELD once necessitated. The Avengers might be a little less of a bureaucratic nightmare than SHIELD, but they were still repurposing old facilities rather than building anything entirely new. Once said facilities were swept entirely clean of old HYDRA tech, of course.

Darcy had become something of a master of these hallways. She had plenty of downtime on her hands most days and had always had a very good sense of direction. That and she’d sweet-talked FRIDAY into giving her a map that she’d used to code herself a rudimentary app for her phone. On the rare occasion she did get lost down here, a few taps and she was back at her desk. So, in the rare event anyone else made their way down here, Darcy usually ended up providing directions on how the poor confused soul could make their way back to civilization.

And if those footsteps were any indication, her services were going to be required once again. She silently reached into her bag to grip her taser, just in case she had inadvertently become the front line in an attempted attack, but that was mostly paranoia and habit getting the best of her. It was exceptionally unlikely anyone attacking this place would ever make it down here - and the one time they _did_ , Darcy sent the guy wandering in circles.

She should probably check and see where he ended up. That was at least a month ago now.

Darcy leaned back in her chair to wait, taking another sip of her coffee and being _just_ loud enough to announce her presence without making it obvious she was announcing her presence.

“Lewis! Just the person I wanted to see!”

Darcy looked up over her coffee cup and rolled her eyes. Clint Barton was a menace and a liar. Tall, dark, and dangerous next to him was a surprise though - she’d only heard one set of footsteps. She leaned back in her chair and kicked her feet up on the desk.

“Barton,” she greeted, her tone flat. “You lost?”

“What? Me? No!” Clint motioned to the man next to him. “Bucky here though, he’s totally lost. Could you help the poor guy out?”

Bucky leveled a glare at Clint, but didn’t say a word. Darcy grinned. She liked this Bucky guy already.

“Where are you headed?” she asked, directing her question at Bucky.

“Armory,” he replied, his voice surprisingly soft in contrast with his dangerous exterior. Dangerous to bad guys, surely, but also dangerous to Darcy’s sanity. This guy was going to take up a lot of her brain power for _weeks_.

It was something to look forward to.

“Too bad it’s not the obstacle course,” she said, giving him a friendly smile. “I’d park myself on the observation deck and cheer you on.” He looked down, away from her her and Darcy restrained herself from further flirting. For now.

She leaned forward, bringing her legs back down and under her so she could point out the hallway they needed. “Go all the way to the end of this hall and up the stairs. Take the next two lefts, then a right. And you’re there.”

Clint broke out into an enormous grin. “Thanks Darce!” He nodded to Bucky. “Let’s go - I’m itching to try out my new boomerang arrows.”

Bucky’s eyes flicked back to Darcy quickly - so quickly she almost missed it. He gave a quick, subtle nod in her direction, then turned to lead Clint away.

They were about a third of the way down the hall before she couldn’t contain herself any longer. “Don’t be a stranger!”

* * *

Darcy made a face at her phone. She was going to _beat_ this level this time. She was. She was absolutely going to kick the ass of - 

Well, shit. She died again.

She tossed her phone on the desk with an frustrated sigh and leaned back in her chair, silently counting to ten and reminding herself that it was just a game. Just a stupid, aggrevating game that she’d spent _weeks_ trying to beat. She was on the last level with her most powerful players and the new update had to have a bug or something because this level should not be this freaking difficult! She took another deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to focus on something other than her annoyance with the game. With her legs elevated on the desk and her head tilted back like this, her chair was actually pretty comfortable. As usual, no one was around. She could close her eyes for just a minute and maybe - 

“Good afternoon Darcy!”

Darcy jolted forward, throwing her legs back under her and smacking her knee off the side of the desk with a yelp. Her hands slammed down on the desk as she caught herself. She’d been so absorbed in her game that she’d completely missed the sound of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes approaching her little corner of the world.

“Cap,” she ground out through gritted teeth. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” She threw a small smile in Bucky’s direction as a greeting and his eyes went all soft in return.

Her heart was totally still pounding from the surprise. Had nothing to do with him. Nope. Nothing at all.

And if either one of them had enhanced hearing and could hear her heartbeat from where they were standing, that’s the reason she’d swear to in court.

“We were…” Steve began slowly, sneaking a peak at Bucky. “Um. Where were we headed again?”

“Hangar deck,” Bucky supplied.

Darcy’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Did you get lost in a different part of the building before getting to me?”

“I’m...sure I’ve come this way to get to the hangar before,” Steve said.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you have perfect recall?”

A slight flush crept up Steve’s neck. “It’s broken?” 

Darcy sighed. “Then you probably want medical, not the hangar, but you know what? I’m not your mom or your handler.” She pointed to a hallway. “Up the steps, take the third left, then go down three flights, take the next two rights, go all the way down _that_ hallway and it’s the fourth door on the left.”

Steve blinked, then gave her a stiff nod and turned to go down the hallway she indicated, leaving Bucky behind at her desk.

“Somethin’ else I can help you with?” she asked, giving him a smile.

Bucky opened his mouth to say...something, but quickly closed it and shook his head. He turned to follow Steve down the hall and Darcy wouldn’t deny she was enjoying the view. 

“Come see me again soon!” she called.

* * *

“Are you draggin’ me down here to murder me? Is this so no one will ever find the body? I’m disappointed in you, Barnes. I thought you were more creative than this.”

“Wow.”

Darcy snorted into her mug at Bucky’s flat delivery. “Hello boys!” she yelled. They were still around the corner, so she couldn’t quite see them yet, but the acoustics of her little alcove meant she could hear their bickering as clearly as if they were standing next to her. There was a scrabble of footsteps and suddenly she was presented with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes themselves.

“Isn’t this a lovely surprise,” she grinned. “How are we this fine day?” She paused, considering. “Is it still daytime? There are no windows down here. I don’t remember the last time I saw the sun.”

“It’s daytime,” Bucky confirmed softly. 

“Brilliant.”

“How are you doing, Darcy?” Sam asked.

“Top of the world,” Darcy said. “Where can I direct you two fine gentlemen today?”

Sam looked at Bucky and raised an expectant eyebrow. When Bucky didn’t offer up any kind of response, Sam’s shoulders dropped slightly. “How’d you become the expert in this mess of hallways down here anyway? I thought your specialty was astrophysics.”

Darcy laughed. “I would never classify astrophysics as my specialty, but thanks. I run Jane’s lab, I’m the keeper of her data, I rule this level with the iron fist it needs.” Darcy laughed a little at herself, then smiled sweetly at Sam. “But I’m definitely not about to hand over all my secrets to you.” She turned her gaze to Bucky. “Maybe to you. If you asked nicely.”

Sam chuckled darkly under his breath. “Oh boy,” he muttered. He raised his hands in surrender and took half a step away from her desk before giving Bucky a significant look. “You heard the lady.”

“So...Darcy…” Bucky said slowly, then stopped entirely.

Patience was not one of Darcy’s virtues. “What’s a place like me doing in a girl like this?” she teased.

Sam’s grin was instant and blinding, but Bucky’s face showed nothing but startled confusion that quickly faded into a blank mask.

Well shit. He must have thought she was making fun of him.

“It’s a line from a movie,” she explained quickly. “I’ve never had occasion to use it, so. You know. I took it. When presented.”

“Oh. Right.” The blankness slowly faded from Bucky’s face as he stopped trying so hard to mask everything he was feeling. 

Feeling a little bold, Darcy continued. “We could watch it sometime. If you want.”

Sam’s eyes lit up and he quickly looked to Bucky, who appeared frozen in place. 

Silence.

Well, there goes that idea.

“We should get to the briefing room,” Bucky finally said, his voice halting. 

Darcy smiled, but couldn’t help it if it looked just a little sad. She pointed to the hallway they needed. “Up the stairs, second hallway on the left. Go down about halfway and it’ll be the first door on the right.”

Bucky gave her a stiff nod and practically bolted for the hallway. Darcy watched him go and tried not to feel too disappointed.

Sam gave her a sympathetic smile. “He’s…”

Darcy cut him off with a wave of her hand. “It’s fine. I’m not everyone’s flavor of ice cream.”

“I’m not so sure that’s it,” Sam said, hesitantly.

Darcy shrugged. “At least _you_ got the reference.”

“Hell yes. _The Mummy_ is a classic.” Sam’s grin returned and he lightly knocked on the desk before turning to follow Bucky to the briefing room. “See you ‘round, Darcy.”

* * *

Darcy swirled her drink, watching the pattern in the liquid change as the ice slowly melted into the bourbon. It was her first time at one of these things in a while, and she was happy to take advantage of the open bar for a drink or seven. 

Well, probably only one. She did have to work in the morning and her days of trudging into work hungover were behind her. Mostly.

She swirled the drink again before taking a tiny sip and turning her back to the bar so she could observe the crowd. She leaned against the rail, cool against her back through the fabric of her dress. The Mardi Gras theme was surprisingly tasteful, despite Tony Stark’s best efforts as Mardi Gras King to derail the evening. 

She smiled to herself. He really wasn’t that bad these days, especially with Pepper Potts reigning in his worst impulses. She actually kinda liked this version of Tony. Most of the time.

“Hi,” a soft voice greeted. 

Darcy looked to the owner of said voice and smiled. “Hello yourself.”

Bucky stood stiffly, one hand on the bar, the other shoved firmly in the pocket of his suit pants. If he relaxed just a little, her poor heart might never recover from the sight of Bucky Barnes in a tux. She shoved the thought out of the way - he wasn’t interested and she wasn’t going to make it weird.

“You clean up nice,” she said lightly, attempting to keep any and all flirtatious tones out of her voice. Keep it friendly, keep it casual. She was just trying to get him to relax a little, the way she would for any friend who looked this nervous.

“You’re…” his voice trailed off as his eyes flicked to her dress, seemingly catching on the gold threads interwoven throughout the emerald fabric. It was an old standby she kept in her closet for things like this - she’d been a last minute invite when other people cancelled and she hadn’t had time to find anything else. She was only a little self-conscious about the way it fit these days - less time in the field and more time behind a desk would do that - and she struggled not to fidget under his scrutiny.

“You’re breathtaking,” he finally muttered.

Oh. Well then. Wasn’t that a sop to the old ego.

“Charmer,” she accused. “But just for that, I’ll buy you a drink.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed in confusion. “It’s...an open bar?”

“Exactly.” She turned around to face the bar, prompting the bartender to hurry to them. She gave Bucky an encouraging smile. “What’s your poison?”

He slowly turned to mimic her stance, fully facing the bar but with his face looking towards her. “I used to be a bourbon guy.”

“Used to be? What about now?” When she only received a hesitant shrug in return, she looked to the bartender. “One Rúa on the rocks and an aperol spritz, please.” She pushed her barely touched drink towards the rail and the bartender took it away as she left to gather the ingredients for their order. “You can try both and keep the one you like better.”

“You don’t -” He stopped suddenly and looked down at his hands. “Thanks,” he said, his voice still so soft she wouldn’t hear him if she weren’t standing right next to him.

“Anytime.” 

The bartender came back and placed two drinks in front of them before hurrying away to help someone further down the bar. Darcy nudged one of the glasses in Bucky’s direction. He picked it up and swirled it, probably watching the same patterns in the liquid as Darcy had earlier. He lifted the glass and took a tentative sip, then pressed his lips together as he considered it.

“What was that movie you mentioned?” he asked.

Darcy blinked, not expecting the question. “Movie?”

“The other day, at your desk. You mentioned a movie.”

“Oh. Um. _The Mummy_. The 1999 version, not the one from the 30s.”

Bucky nodded. “You like it?”

“It’s great. One of those movies that you don’t really think about when trying to figure out something to watch, but _everyone_ gets excited about when it does come on.”

Bucky took another sip of his drink. Clearly the Rúa was going over well, so Darcy claimed the aperol spritz for herself.

He looked at her, face determined. “Do you think you’d want to-”

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Darcy glanced away, checking out the rest of the room for the source of the noise. A roar went up from the crowd as confetti rained down from the balloons that had been rigged over the dance floor. Thank Tony for the pyrotechnics. She sighed and turned back to Bucky.

Who was frozen in place, eyes wide, and possibly crushing the bar rail under his hand. It was hard to tell from where she was standing.

Shit.

“Hey Buck,” she said, keeping her voice quiet and steady and not moving any more than necessary. “How silly of Tony to think exploding confetti balloons would be a great addition to this party, huh? I don’t know if that’s really a Mardi Gras thing, right? It’s more…” Darcy racked her brain for anything she actually knew about Mardi Gras, but could only come up with cliches. “Booze and beads?”

“Silly,” Bucky agreed, his voice tight. There was a short, sharp exhale before he hung his head and relaxed the death grip he had on the bar. “Sorry,” he murmured.

“You don’t need to apologize. Tony set this up. And _Pepper_ let him.” Darcy gave him another encouraging smile. 

Bucky let out a soft, humorless chuckle and pushed his half-finished drink away as his shoulders drooped slightly. “I should go.”

“There’s a balcony no one ever uses a few floors down. Should be pretty quiet, if that’s what you’re looking for. And there’d be some fresh air, at least.” She pointed at a non-descript door hidden behind the opposite side of the bar. “Out that door, down three flights. First door on the left. It’s never locked.”

Bucky’s responding smile was grim and just a little sad. “It’s very sweet of you to pretend like that would be a consideration for someone like me.”

Darcy tilted her head at him. “You do realize I got this job in the first place by hacking a SHIELD mainframe to find an _iPod_ , right?”

He gave her a curious look. “That wasn’t in your file.”

Darcy straightened up and pretended to examine her nails nonchalantly. “And we’re going to keep it that way.” She pinned him in place with a look. “Don’t think I missed you admitting to digging up my file. If I hadn’t already scrubbed it to make sure it says what I want it to say, I’d be offended.”

Some of the light returned to Bucky’s eyes as she spoke, which filled Darcy with no small measure of pride.

“You wanna come to that balcony with me?” he asked. 

Darcy’s first instinct was to scream yes and possibly jump on him for a piggyback ride. But then she saw the tense line of his shoulders and reconsidered.

“Would you prefer quiet or company right now?” She held up her glass and shook it lightly, causing the ice to slosh around and the little cocktail straw to spin. “I’m good to hang here if you just want quiet, I promise.”

The tension in Bucky’s shoulders released. “Raincheck?” he asked hopefully.

“As if I’d let you get away without one.” 

Bucky’s eyes softened further. “Three flights down, first door on the left?”

“You got it.”

He reached for her hand and gave it a brief, gentle squeeze. “Thanks Darcy.”

* * *

Darcy silently cursed as another drip of her coffee landed on her head. She’d knocked over her mug when the attack started and now the resulting _drip drip drip_ of the remains was doing nothing but pissing her off. She checked the charge on her taser, silently leaned out from under the desk, and took aim at the next idiot bad guy rushing down her hallway. 

Wait for it. 

Wait for it. 

Wait for it.

Bullseye.

The idiot dropped twitching to the floor to join the other fools who had tried to rush her desk. She blew a strand of hair out of her face and double-checked her taser again. She was running out of charges and would have to resort to the icer soon. She hated the icer.

Her side twinged with pain as she crawled back under the desk to grab a backup charge and wait for the next idiot to come rushing by.

“DARCY!”

Oh look, it’s her favorite idiot now. 

Darcy shook off the thought. The adrenaline was getting to her.

She slowly peeked up over the desk to see Bucky and Natasha rushing down the hallway towards her. She raised a hand and waved weakly.

“Oh hey! What’s up?” she called.

Bucky’s frankly absurd and terrifying machine gun dropped to the floor with a clatter as he fell to his knees and slid toward her. He pulled them both under the desk while Natasha worked to secure the unconscious bad guys Darcy had already dispatched.

“There’s only 11 here,” she said. “FRIDAY reported at least 15 in the initial breach on this level.”

“The other four are wandering the labyrinth - I gave them directions that will send them directly to the confinement level.” Darcy shrugged. “You know, so they wouldn’t kill me.”

Bucky cupped her face and searched her eyes, clearly giving her a quick field exam. It was nice, actually, to be the subject of such intense study. “You’re slurring a little - are you okay?”

“Hit my head,” she muttered, closing her eyes as she leaned into the touch of his palm to her cheek. “Can I take a nap now?”

“No naps. Eyes on me,” Bucky snapped. “Natasha, we gotta get her outta here.”

“You go, I’ll wrap this up.”

Bucky shook his head. “You’re faster and quieter. You can-”

Natasha cut him off. “If she passes out from that bullet hole in her side, I can’t carry her.”

“Bullet - what -” Bucky stammered as he shifted Darcy into his lap and leaned her back a little.

Darcy giggled. “Buy me dinner first.”

Her joke was met with a choking sound as Bucky found the wound, most of her dress already ruined with blood.

“Darcy,” he gasped. “Shit.”

Darcy smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.”

Bucky cupped her face again. “I’ll buy you all the dinners you could ever hope to eat if you keep that promise.” He shifted her again as he stood. “We gotta go. We’ll be faster if you can walk a little, think you can do that? I can carry you, but I can’t cover us as well that way.”

“Course I’ll be okay, Buck,” Darcy murmured, her vision swimming. “You’re here.”

“Shit,” Natasha swore. “Go. Now.”

Bucky looked to Darcy again. “Darcy-girl. One more favor. Tell me the fastest way to medical from here. Can you do that?”

Darcy dug her phone out of the pocket of her dress and opened the app she’d built. “Tell FRIDAY. She’ll get us there.”

“Okay. Okay, let’s go.”

* * *

Darcy winced as she leaned back in her chair. Her side had mostly healed up, but every once in awhile there was still a tiny twinge of pain, usually when she’d been sitting for a long period. She had the freedom to wander away from her desk any time she pleased - she’d certainly done it enough in her time here to have memorized these halls - but the attack was a recent enough memory that Darcy was wary of being caught too far away from cover and her stockpile of taser charges.

The leaning wasn’t helping to ease the pain this time. With a groan, Darcy pulled herself out of her chair and started on the light stretches the doctors who patched her up had recommended. She’d just reached both hands over her head when a voice from the hallway behind her echoed through the alcove.

“There’s a sight for sore eyes.”

Darcy turned around as quickly as her aching muscles would allow. “Bucky,” she greeted with a grin. “You’re back.”

He nodded. “I’m back.”

“Did you catch me a few bad guys?”

Bucky’s small smile dimmed a little. “Any bad guys that had anything to do with what happened to you who had the misfortune of crossing my path have been dealt with.”

“Awww. And you didn’t leave any for me?” she teased.

Bucky sighed and leaned against her desk. “Darcy...I don’t want you to have to do that. My hands will never be clean, let me do the dirty work, yeah?”

Darcy reached out to touch his shoulder lightly. “So we’re not at the point in our relationship where we can make that joke yet, huh?”

“You almost died, Darcy. You’re my friend and you almost died because I couldn’t protect you.”

“You’re a melodramatic shit, Barnes,” Darcy said, her voice firm. “The attack wasn’t your fault and you can’t see the future. Besides, all things considered, I think I did okay.”

Bucky sighed and leaned into her a little bit. “You were bleeding out when I got here.”

“After having knocked out 11 of the 15 bad guys who broke in here and misdirecting the other four.” Darcy moved in front of him so he couldn’t avoid her face anymore. “Look. Yes, the whole thing sucked. Yes, I would have preferred things remained boring down here and the whole thing to have never happened. But I don’t blame you for it happening. I don’t blame Tony or Steve or anyone else in the place.” She shrugged. “I knew the risks when I signed on to work here. I accept those risks every single day, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon. But now _you’ve_ seen the risks of being friends with someone who isn’t enhanced or has crazy scary training and works here anyway. If you can’t handle that, then maybe you should start taking the direct route to places you need to go, rather than detouring down here for directions.”

Bucky stared at her, his expression flickering between horrified and stunned, then settling somewhere around the neighborhood of resigned. 

“I can handle it,” he murmured. “I might not be good at it. But I can work on it.”

“Good.” Darcy poked his shoulder. “So...friends?” 

Bucky chewed on his lip while Darcy waited for his answer. When the silence grew, Darcy decided to give him a nudge. 

“You do owe me a raincheck for a night on the balcony, you know,” she reminded him.

He reached for her hand. “Do you think...maybe, sometime. Do you think you might want to watch that movie?” He laced his fingers with hers. “Maybe not as friends?”

Darcy tried to suppress her grin and failed, spectacularly. “You askin’ me on a date?” He nodded. “Yes. I’d love to watch _The Mummy_ with you, not as friends.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Bucky gave her hand a squeeze, then pushed off the desk lightly to straighten back up. “I should go, I’ve got to get to medical. Sam was messin’ around with Tony’s new design for the shield and clocked himself in the head.”

Darcy laughed. “Oh man. I shouldn’t laugh at that, but if there is video-”

“I’ll grab it for ya.”

“You’re the best. Okay, so to get to medical from here, you should go down this hall and-” Darcy stopped short as she noticed Bucky’s ears turning pink. “You already know, don’t you?”

Bucky’s expression was guilty, but he admitted nothing. 

“You _sneak_. You probably memorized the layout down here weeks ago!”

“Yeah?” Bucky’s response was sheepish and his hand was halfway to rubbing the back of his neck before he caught the motion and forced his arm back down.

“Why keep asking then?”

Bucky shrugged. “Gave me an excuse to talk to you.”

Darcy felt her poor heart melt into a puddle of goo somewhere around her feet. “You adorable, _ridiculous_ mess of a human.” She grinned. “Well, in that case, you know that if you go to the end of this hall and up the stairs, medical is the first door on your left. _And_ you should already know that after you visit Sam, you can keep going down that hall and make a right, swing into the coffee shop, buy two coffees, then take the elevator down two floors to come right back here to me.”

Bucky’s grin was blinding and Darcy was almost knocked over by the force of it. “Yeah? That’s a thing I should know?”

“That is _absolutely_ a thing my guy should know.”

Bucky’s eyes did that thing again where they got all soft when he was looking at her. Darcy was _really_ looking forward to inspiring that look more often.

“Now get out of here,” she encouraged. “Sooner you leave, the sooner you’ll be back.”

Bucky leaned in a pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll be back soon. Some nice girl gave me good directions so I could get back.” He backed away, not letting go of her hand until the last possible moment, then finally turned away to go down the hall.

Darcy took a moment to appreciate the view. 

Memorizing the layout of this level was definitely her greatest decision.


End file.
